A corpora



C. W. LUMMIS.

GAS PRODUCER.

ARPLICM'ION HLED JAN. 21, ms.

1 ,305,9 1 3. Patented J une 3, 1919.

Mfnassas E, 7M L/zach Wlllmmzls.

fit for/megs UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. LUMMIS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO MORGAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

GAS-PRODUCER.

Application filed January 27, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES W. LUMMIs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gas-Producers, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

The present invention relates to gas producers, and has particular reference to the construction of the shell, or fuel containing section, of devices of this class.

The high degrees of heat prevailing in the gasifying chamber of a gas producer, particularly in the region or zone of the surface of the fuel bed, where the combustion of the fuel is most intense, necessitates the provision of a shell or fuel section, having, in addition to the requisite heat resisting qualities, of a character to preserve the structural strength of the shell under the high temperatures to which it is subjected, the capability of minimizing the amount of heat lost by radiation through the walls thereof from said chamber.

Fire-brick, usually in the form of alining incased within a sheet metal shell, and of sufficient thickness to minimize radiation thcrethrough, has served to meet the requirements above stated, but its use in such form has been open to serious objection, as a rcsult of its tendency to fuse with the ash and clinker, which latter adherc to the iuncr surface of the lining in substantially uubreakable masses, seriously handicapping the efficient operation of the producer.

As an expedient to overcome this objection, producers have been built in which no fircbrick lining has been used, the wall of the shell consisting of spaced steel plates, providing for the circulation of water therebctween. It is found, however, that the water jacket thus formed takes too much heat from the adjacent] y disposed fuel, which becomes comparatively cool, allowing the excessive permeation of the blast near the Wall of the shell and the consequent dilution of the gas which has been formed in the hotter portions of the fuel bed.

The present invention contemplates a shell which avoids the objections above noted to the use of firebrick linings and water jacketed metallic walls, the essential features of the same being fully set forth in the follow Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 3, 1919.

Serial No. 4,650.

ing description and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which the figure is a vertical sectional view of a portion of a gas producer constructed in accordance with my invention.

In the said drawing, the shell or fuel section 1 of the producer is shown in connection with an upper cover section 2, inclosing the gasifying chamber 3 between the outer walls of said sections 2 and 3 and the surface of the bed of fuel in said fuel section. As shown, said sections are made separate and independent, the cover section 2 being supported by posts or standards 2' to enable, if desired, the mechanical rotation of the fuel section without interfering with the means for delivering gas through a passage 4 leading from the cover section. The fuel section, in accordance with approved practice. flares outwardly from the bottom, the wall of said section comprising, in part, sheet metal plates 5 and 6 suitably rivctcd or attached in any well known manner, to form the open ended structure shown in the figure.

In the present embodimcnt of the invention, the plates 5 define the flaring portion of the shell, and the plates 6 are extended vertically upward from the interior of the flaring portion to define a shell portion of uniform diameter in the region or zone of the surface of the fuel bcd, said two shcll portions intersecting in a plane considerably below the cXtrenic uppcr cnds of the flaring plates 5. The shell thus defined by the plates 5 and (i has a firebrick lining, the portion 7 of said lining adjaccn-t thc platcs 5 being of the thickness usually employed for the lower portions of ordinary brick lined producers. It is to be understood that the lining in this locality is not subjected to the intense heat prevailing in the region of the surface of the fuel bed. and hence is not subjected to the deleterious effects of fusion of its fuel contacting surface. Above the lining 7, and extending upwardly for incasement by the plates 6, a lining 8 is provided. which is of a thickness considerably less than that employed, in ordinary practice, for the producer walls in the region of greatest heat. In accordance with the present invention this lining 8 is only about onehalf as thick as the linings usually employed for the fuel bed surface region of the ordinary brick lined producers.

Extending vertically upward from the outer ends of the plates 5 are the plates 9, spaced from and surrounding the shell portion formed by the plates 6, and defining an annular chamber or open trough 10, having parallel sides formed by the plates 6 and 9, and an inclined bottom 11 formed by por tions of the plates 5. Said trough 10 forms a acket space for the constant circulation of a body of cooling water, surrounding the region or zone of greatest heat which is inclosed within the relatively thin firebrick lining 8, and in addition said body of water is in convenient position to receive an annular skirt or apron 12, depending from the cover section 2, to form a water seal against the escape of gases from the combustion chamber 3.

By the construction described above, the over heating of the lining 8, to a point of fusion, is avoided, said lining being sufiiciently thin to enable the cooling action of the body of water to be transmitted therethrough. However, the previously set forth disadvantages incident to the use of a water jacketed shell are not present, since the in tcrposed lining 8 between the acket and the fire prevents the excessive cooling of the fuel lying immediately adjacent the wall of the producer.

In other words, the provision of a relatively thin fire brick lining, around which a constant circulation of cooling water is maintained, results in a proper insulation of the cooling agent or water jacket from the fire, the insulating means, however, being of a character, by reason of its thinness, to transfer or radiate to the cooling agent a suflicient amount of the heat to which it is subjected, whereby the damaging efi'ects of the heat upon the exposed surface of the same are avoided. The lining 8 is not subject to fusion upon its inner surface, and still the adjacently disposed portions of the fuel are sufficiently removed from the influence of the cooling agent to prevent the impairment of the gasifying operation in the regions immediately adjacent the walls of the producer.

It is to be noted that the thickness of the lining 8 is dependent upon the coefficient of heat conduction of the material employed. With the ordinary grades of firebrick used for gas producer linings, it has been found that. with a lining 8 about four and one half inches thick, enough heat is abstracted by the surrounding water jacket to cool the inner surface of the lining below the temperature where it slugs with the ash. However, with material having a higher coefficient of heat conduction, a thicker lining may be employed. The cooling water abstracts heat from the shell surrounding the lining, faster than if said shell were merely exposed to the air; consequently a lining of suiiicient thickness for the requisite structural strength may be employed.

I claim,

1. In a gas producer, a shell providing a gas producing chamber, said shell comprising a water chamber open at the top and surrounding said gas producing chamber in the zone of greatest heat thereof, and an interposed lining of firebrick between said water chamber and the contents of said gas producing chamber of suflicient thinness topermit the conduction of heat therethrough to said water chamber at a rate calculated to maintain the temperature below the fusion temperature of said firebrick.

2. In a gas producer, a sheet metal shell inclosing a gas producing chamber, said shell comprising an outwardly flaring lower portion and a substantially vertical upper portion disposed within and intersecting said flaring portion below the upper open end thereof and below the zone of greatest heat within said chamber, a firebrick lining for said shell portions, said lining being of reduced thickness in the region of said vertical upper portion, and an exterior wall attached to and extending vertically upward from the rim of said flaring portion to provide a water chamber surrounding said vertical portion.

3. In a gas producer, a water-jacketed shell inclosing a gas producing chamber, said chamber having a heat insulating lining interposed between the water jacket and the zone of greatest heat within said chamber for preventing the chilling of the fire by said water jacket, said lining being of such thinness that the cooling effect of the Waterjackct is ;--utlicient to maintain the inner surface of said lining at a temperature below that required to fuse said lining with the ash of the coal.

Dated this twenty-first day of January, 1915.

CHARLES W. LUMMIS.

Witnesses lViLLAnn A. WINN, PAULINE Haas.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for flve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

